Environmental effects of loess penetration into the northern Negev Desert.

Aeolian loess represents a young, continental geological formation in the northern Negev Desert. Loess penetration started some 80 000 yr ago when a change from dry climatic to wet climatic conditions took place during the Wurm glacial period. The loess led to increased aridity, explained by the fact that loess penetration into the area drastically altered the ratio of bare bedrock outcrops to soil cover that controls, in a rocky desert, the amount and areal distribution of available water.-after Author